Page 133 of Shadow Witch

“Endless hall? What does that mean?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. This hall just keeps looping over and over like a badly written piece of code.”

Paige pressed her back against the cool stone wall. “What now? How do we escape? How do we get out of here?”

“Oh, that’s simple. Just turn around and go the other way.”

She wrinkled her nose as she cut her gaze to him. “What? Are you serious?”

“Sure. Endless halls are only one direction.”

“Why didn’t you say that to start with?” Paige grumbled as she reversed her direction to escape. “You said trapped. I thought we were doomed.”

“No, it’s really simple. We’ll be out of here in no time. The problem is…we’re stuck trying to move forward unless we test the theory that the werewolf won’t attack you.”

“Let’s not and say we did. Maybe by the time we get back, Drucinda will be here, and she can just kill the werewolf.”

“Sure. We can–“

Dewey’s voice stopped as they rounded the corner to escape the endless hall. Paige froze, her eyes going wide again. “Oh, you’re kidding me.”

“Mmmm, don’t think it’s a joke, Paige,” Dewey said with a shake of his head. “Looks like we’ll be testing your theory about creatures sooner than we think.”

Paige swallowed hard as she stared into the green eyes of a jet-black cat who could easily overpower her. “Hey, kitty. Nice kitty.”

“I don’t think that’s going to work, Paige. She looks hungry. Plus werepanthers aren’t really known for responding to auditory stimuli.”

“A were what?”

“Panther,” Dewey answered. “That’s no regular panther. Look at the teeth, look at the claws. Look at how big it is.”

Paige sucked in a shaky breath. “Yeah, those were all things I was trying to avoid looking at, to be honest. Do you think it would be affected by the Snow White Syndrome?”

Dewey shrugged. “Maybe. We may have to test it out. It’s that or be chased through the endless hall over and over before you finally tire of running well before the werepanther. You stumble, fall, and before you can worry about how you’ve scraped your hands and chin on the rough stones, teeth are sinking into your back. The pain is overwhelming, and the last thing you experience before passing out is the heat of your own blood running down your back.”

“Ew, Dewey, that’s disgusting.”

“But exceptionally accurate.”

Paige’s stomach turned as his words echoed in her mind. “So, what are we going to do?”

“How do you feel about wrestling a werepanther?”

“Not good,” Paige answered. “Look at the muscle on that thing. It’s like one solid mass.”

The werepanther sniffed in the air at them before licking its lips.

“Not to mention it’s got at least fifty pounds on you. It’s a beast.”

Paige swallowed hard. “Is there any way to get through the endless hall in a different manner?”

“Nope. It’ll just keep endlessly circling.”

Her eyes went wide and the corners of her lips curled. “Wait. I have an idea.”

“Is it to curl into a ball and hope it mistakes you for dead?”

“No,” Paige said with a shake of her head. “It’s to lure it into the endless hall. Then, we’ll reverse course and escape, leaving it stuck in there.”

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